LONDON (Reuters) -Conor Benn dominated Chris Eubank Jr for 12 rounds in their middleweight clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday to claim a unanimous decision victory, exacting revenge for his defeat in the pair’s first meeting in April.
Benn lost that fight after all three judges scored it 116-112 in favour of his opponent, but there was no doubting who won Saturday’s clash as the 29-year-old put on the most complete performance of his professional career over 36 minutes.
Similar to the first fight, Benn came out strongly in the opening rounds, coming in under his opponent’s jab to land some heavy blows, but this time there was to be no fall-off in production as Eubank Jr struggled from the opening bell.
Eubank Jr looked to make his height and reach advantage tell midway through the third round, punishing Benn when he allowed his head to go over his front foot, but Benn’s fast footwork allowed him to get in and out without suffering too much damage.
With Benn controlling the tempo, Eubank Jr found himself forced to lock his opponent up in the clinch to avoid damage when his guard was breached.
Sensing his adversary beginning to tire, Benn stepped on the gas in the seventh round, launching savage shots to the body to slow him down even further. Eubank Jr tried to respond, but there was little malice in his usually potent jab until he finally landed some offense late in the eighth round.
That was to be as good as it got for Eubank Jr and Benn went for broke in the final frame, knocking his opponent to the canvas twice, with the bell coming to Eubank Jr’s rescue at the end of another epic clash between the two British boxers.
With the two boxers’ fathers engaging in a heated rivalry in the 1990s that echoed in their sons’ two 2025 clashes, Benn recorded his family’s first victory over the Eubanks and quickly drew a line under it, saying there would be no re-match.
“I feel like this is the end of the Benn-Eubank saga. Done. Finished. It’s over … this ends here,” he said, before taking a swipe at his detractors and praising Eubank Jr.
“Everyone’s saying, I can’t box? Put that in your pipe and smoke it … credit to Chris man, that’s all I say. Thank you for sharing the ring with me.”
For his part, Eubank Jr was gracious in defeat, giving no excuses for his flat performance and hailing his opponent as the better man.
“I’ve been through hell and back to get to this night, and it is what it is. I tried my best, and listen, the kid fought hard. He fought tough. He’s got power,” he said.
“Who knows, maybe we will see something new between me and him and maybe we won’t, but for right now, it’s all about this man. It’s his night.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor)
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